Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has asserted a possible increase in fuel price at the pumps in the coming days due to the depreciation of the cedi
The indication by COPEC follows the increase in prices at the pumps by some oil marketing companies despite projections that prices would go down from mid-May.
The companies have blamed the decision to increase the prices on the uncertainties in the exchange rate market.
As at Tuesday May 21, 2024, one dollar was selling for GH¢15.20 at Forex Bureaus.
The Executive Secretary of the chamber, Duncan Amoah said oil marketing companies are struggling due to the exchange rate volatilities.
Mr. Amoah disclosed that even though some of the oil marketing companies are exploring other innovative ways to minimize the impact of the cedi’s depreciation on their operations, the instability is making it difficult to plan.
“Once you have a currency that you can’t predict its performance in the next two to three months, then you are forcing the importers to determine what values to set their pricing”, he said.
Mr Amoah argued that business owners will always react to market expectations and make their forecast based on the performance of the currency.
“If the importer is done selling his fuel, he has to pay the suppliers. He needs more cedi than he did when he was setting the price. A certain overrun may have occurred”, he quipped.
He noted further that importers are saddled with cost because they need more cedis to buy the same amount of dollars that was initially used to import the product.
“So clearly, something must be done and government has a duty to ensure stability of the cedi”, he said.
Mr Amoah also indicated that the performance of the cedi and how the various finished petroleum products are selling on the international market have been a major factor in determining fuel prices at the pumps.
However, most of the oil marketing companies decided to leave the prices unchanged since last Thursday because of the cedi’s depreciation.
Source: Norvanreports